Invest in a Professional Energy Audit to Find the Best Ways to Improve Your Home’s Efficiency

Categories: Energy Efficiency, Energy Solutions

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If you’re concerned that your Cincinnati home isn’t as efficient as you’d like it to be, consider a professional energy audit. Energy audits have long been common for commercial and industrial buildings, but they’ve been gaining ground among U.S. homeowners in recent years as a way to discover and put a stop to wasted energy.

Given that heating and cooling accounts for nearly half of all homeowners’ energy expenses, energy audits can lower bills by as much as 30 percent. They also help us become more environmentally responsible.

What an Energy Auditor Will Do

An energy auditor will first analyze several months’ worth of energy bills to get an overall picture of your home’s energy usage. The auditor will assess energy losses and gains, as well as infiltration of moisture and outside air into the home. He or she will then perform a couple of tests — the blower door and thermographic scan, in particular — before making recommendations about improving your home’s efficiency.

These tests and the energy auditor’s evaluation will include checking out insulation, window efficiency, weatherization efforts, ductwork, and the heating and cooling systems themselves.

Home Energy Tests

Energy auditors will perform the following tests to assess your home’s efficiency:

Blower door test – This test involves sealing the house, turning off all fossil fuel-burning appliances so they don’t fire during the test and mounting a powerful fan in an exterior door frame. Once the fan is turned on, all the air is drawn out, lowering the air pressure. At that point, air comes rushing in through cracks and gaps. The auditor detects these gaps and cracks with a smoke pencil, and then determines the air infiltration rate.

Thermographic scan – Using an infrared still or video camera, the auditor scans the home for warm and cool areas to determine where insulation is needed. The tests are usually done when there’s at least a 20-degree difference between interior and exterior air temperatures.